Tracks: Kings & Queens
More
Spike
Crum’s Butterfly Song
Velviteen
Hello, everybody. This is “Downtown” Johnny Brown and you are listening to Music Sumo Podcast #014!
To all of you who don’t know by now, Music Sumo is an independent online music store dedicated to promoting and selling all independent artists’ music over the internet at www.musicsumo.com.
Music Sumo is aimed at assisting independent music artists, in further promoting their careers through distribution, marketing, and promotion on the internet. Artists are now able to sell their CD’s online, advertise upcoming shows and releases, and be featured on Music Sumo’s regular podcast.
Some of the key features that we have incorporated into the Music Sumo webstore are: • A website where your fans, and the general public, can come and buy your CD’s. • A place for customers to leave reviews of your music. • An event calendar so you can let your fans know about your upcoming gigs, CD releases, and more. • A bulletin board system that you can use to get questions answered about the music industry, as well as help others. • A chat room where you can interact with your fans and other musicians in realtime. • A way to further promote your band, music, and gigs through links and banners. • And more!!!
Currently we are accepting CD submissions from all musical artists for the store and if you submit your CD now you will receive 20% off the sign-up fee by entering in “sumopromo” in the coupon redemption area at the bottom of the CD submission page! So sign-up now! To find out more about Music Sumo and to take advantage of the 20% in savings visit Music Sumo today at www.musicsumo.com!!
As you can probably hear in the background we have Üai waiting in the wings on our mothership of ethereal bliss so lets just kick off this show with “Kings & Queens” by Üai. Üai – Kings & Queens
Alright, so I’m back! Sorry for the delay in getting this latest installment of the Music Sumo Podcast out to all of you, but September was a pretty busy month! First, I was cruising around the California Sierra Nevada mountains for a bit with some friends of mine, The Trespassers, who you should be hearing more about soon I hope. Then, I closed down the studio for a couple of days while I worked with some small bands that passed through the area, like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, Nada Surf, and Guster. Finally, it was my 30th birthday at the end of the month, so I got out of town for a bit so nobody could remind me how old I am getting. So, as you can see, things were a little busy around here, but I didn’t get any complaints about our last Featured Artist, Buffy, being up on the homepage so long. Could be her singing, could be her songwriting, could be that she is gorgeous. Whatever it is, all of you seemed to like her, and I am glad!
I am back now though with another installment of the Music Sumo Podcast and we are settling back into things with a soft version of the show brought to you by Üai. As you may recall we have played some occasional Üai tunes on the show and even did an interview with the front man, Andy Bergeron on Music Sumo Podcast #006. We have not yet done a show just for Üai though so this is it.
Hailing from the great northwest, in the rainy city of bridges and roses, Portland, Oregon, Üai thrives in the rock and roll tradition of testing the boundaries of beauty and raw energy; and, with influences ranging from The Flaming Lips to the Grateful Dead and John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, Üai also celebrates the totem of rock and roll which is its continual evolution and recreation through the influences of popular music of the present as well as the recent past.
The cultivation of Üai began in the spring of 2003, and the product was released to the public in live form in the fall of that same year. However, the members of the band had been performing in Portland, OR since the mid nineties, together and with separate projects, at such venues as the Blackbird, the Fez Ballroom, the Medicine Hat Gallery, and the Ash Street Saloon. Beginning as an ambient psych-pop duo, Üai began playing at the Jasmine Tree’s Tiki Lounge, the Green Room, Club DV8, as well as maintaining a unique and popular weekly at Ladd’s Inn for over six months. While consistently hosting local up-and-coming talent and forwarding an open and creative environment, the Üai weekly also allowed the duo to truly formulate and mature its unique sound, add many adoring fans, and, in the spring of 2004, find the perfect bass player, Bianca Grace.
Reared in the cornfields of Iowa, Bianca has been deep in the rock and roll storm for over fifteen years since she joined her first band at age 15. Playing in a wide variety of acts over the years, Bianca is most easily recognized for her role in Adickdid, an all girl grunge group who opened for such acts as Hole and Fugazi in the nineties while also releasing a full-length record. Bianca also has another full-length album under her bass strap and continues to pulse the groove deep into the soul as she abides in the pocket with Hal, Üai’s driving drumming machine.
Hal was raised in the warehouses of Japan and, at a young age, was imported to the United States. With his sleek look and impeccable sense of rhythm, the Korg ElectribeR Rhythm Synthesizer soon became a staple in many electronic acts before his desire to apply himself in a more organic musical environment led him into the hands of Üai. He’s since become the adoree of many a lusty Üai fan who just can’t resist the depth and girth of his clockwork beats. Now, linked up with the experience of the rock saturated Bianca on bass, this rhythm section’s dependability and keen ear for the pocket lay down a wonderfully driving platform for the musings of guitarist and lead singer, Andy Bergeron.
Andy grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, but had been living and playing in Portland since the late nineties. His diversity with instrumentation has led him into a variety of roles in the Portland music scene, the most dominant of which being guitarist/vocalist in SpaceBreath; a powerful rock quartet scorching the Portland area for more than three years from 1999 to 2002, while also producing a number of studio recordings and a full length album, Cloudland. His other projects have included playing bass in the hard rock trio Astrella, bass and keyboards in the more folky Mo and the Donuts, drums in the duo Loris Lane, as well as composing and producing the music for a play written and directed by Charlie Orphanides, the Üai keyboardist.
Raised in coastal Connecticut, Charlie was classically trained in piano since the age of six, but not until 2001 did he switch focus to improvisational and electric music. Prior to this transition, his attention lent itself to more literary and performance art pursuits resulting in a small book of poetry, a number of short films, countless multi-media performances including film, dance, theatre, and music, many involving the music of SpaceBreath, and the culminant grand comedic fantasy, "The Birth of the Stick-Figure Battery Baby," which was performed for ten nights at the Back Door Theater in Portland in June 2002 while receiving rave reviews from the media, including a Portland Mercury ’pick of the week,’ and selling out the final four performances.
With all focus dedicated to the cultivation of Üai since its conception, the band has harnessed its underwaterpychedelicpoprock sound and spent much of the summer of 2004 in their basement studio recording their first LP, Wee One, which is now available on the Music Sumo webstore at www.musicsumo.com.
The track that we played first in this show was “Kings & Queens” from that album, Wee One, along with the rest of the tracks played this show, including these two. This is Üai with “More” and “Spike.”
Unfortunately, as you may know from listening from Music Sumo Podcast #006, Üai does not play live so much anymore since Andy has moved back to the Bay Area, Bianca started her own hair salon, and Charlie has been traveling on and off throughout India I believe. But, don’t count this band as out just yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if you see them play the Portland, OR or San Francisco, CA areas in the next couple of years. To find out more about Üai and to keep up to date with what they are up to you can visit their production company’s website at www.figwine.org.
Well, I would like to wrap up the show now, but before going I would like to let all of you know that Music Sumo now has a ton of awesome vinyl stickers that are for sale at the store. The stickers are black screen print on white vinyl. They are 4.25” x 2.75”. They are quality stickers that are suited for outdoor use and should last for at least 3 – 5 years with no fading! The stickers are $1 each, but if you buy a couple of CD’s we’ll throw a couple of stickers in for free. Check them out today on the Music Sumo website at www.musicsumo.com.
Of course before I totally finish off the show I will leave you with some music from our current Featured Artist, Üai. This is “Crum’s Butterfly Song” and “Velviteen” off of Üai’s debut album, Wee One, which you can now find on the Music Sumo webstore at www.musicsumo.com.
Take care everyone, and remember to always have fun!
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